The topic for today, what I love most about teaching, seems like a no-brainer. I have not yet read any other of today’s posts from fellow participants in the 30-Day Blogging Challenge, but I suspect many of us will say the same thing.
What I love most about teaching is working with the students. More specifically, I value the connections and relationships I make while teaching.
When I talk with other folks who work in the “real world,” I realize how lucky I am. They talk about office politics, inept supervisors, competing with co-workers for the next promotion and other topics that remind me why I went into teaching. I started teaching simply because I liked working with kids. I had no idea how hard teaching would be (had I known, I might have reconsidered), but the students have kept me coming back to the classroom for 28 years.
When I step into my classroom, I enter a world that non-teachers cannot relate to. I work in a fast-paced and unpredictable environment, yet at the same time there are many constants. There will always be students who warm up to me quickly, and those that make me work all year to earn their trust. There are always former students dropping by my classroom during homeroom, lunch and after school, and sometimes they even reminisce about the learning they did in my class. There are always students who aim to please, and others who like to test the limits. I love working with all of them. I would not want a class of just one type of learner or adolescent, I enjoy the variety challenges that come along with such diversity.
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| cc image by Duane Schoon |
Finally, there are always students that question my practices and methods. They force me to reflect on what I am doing and they teach me that just because a lesson worked well for one class, it may not work well for them. I learn from my students every day. This is what I love about teaching.
